Jungle Rice (Echinochloa colona)

Family: Poaceae or Gramineae | Edibility: Edible (2/5)

Echinochloa colona is a ANNUAL growing to 1 m (3ft 3in). It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Nuts/Seeds, Leaves, Shoots

Harvest Seasons: Fall, Late Summer

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Seed - cooked. Used as a millet. The seed can be cooked whole or ground into a flour and used as a mush or porridge. Young plants and shoots - raw or cooked. Eaten raw with rice. — Used as a millet.; The seed can be cooked whole or ground into a flour and used as a mush or porridge.; Young plants and shoots - raw or cooked.; Eaten raw with rice.

Habitat & North American Range

Waste places, cultivated fields and ditches in southern N. America where it is naturalized. A weed of damp places and irrigated fields in China. (Zone 8)